Process of carbureting air or gas.



No. 656,484. Patented Aug. 2|, i900.

l .1. E. SHEAREH.

PROCESS 0F CARBURETING AIB 0H EAS.

(Application led Nov. 11, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Tue Norms P Eriks coA PHoTo-Llfno.. wAsmNGToN. n. c.

2O` by theback pressure of Water raising a part relative proportions of gasand air, and inl` UNITED STATEs'4 'PATENT' OFFICE.

JOSEPH` E. si-IEARER, OE Omoo, CALIFORNIA, AssiGNoR To JOI-INC. BURDON, OF sAME PLAOE, AND JOHN eLANviLLE, or SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

PROCESS oF oAReuFi-:TINGAIR oReAs.

srEcIErcATroN forming partei, Lettes meent No. 656,484, dated August 21, 190e. Appiia'ia'rita Ntvemter 11,1e99. serai 110.736,608. (No speumens.) v

To a/,ZVZwr/om t ,mur/,Lfconcevt--V Beitknown that I, JOSEPH4 E. SHEARER, a citzenof theUnited States, residingat Chico, in the qounty of Butte and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Gas, of Which the following is a specification.'

, My inventionrelates to a process for carbureting air `to lproduce a` gas suitable `for illuminating and heating.

One part of my process relates particularly to the use of Water-pressure for elevating and isolating a small body of gasolene or" other carbureting substance from a larger bodyof such substance immersed in the water which produces such pressure. v 4

Another part of my process relates to the manner of iilling theimmersed Oil-tank by forcing the oil into 'such tank, displacing the water primarily contained therein, and then of the gasolene above the main Water-level and the carbureting-point, so that itican feed by gravity to the carbureting-point. ,n

Another part of my process relates to the production of a vacuum abovethe carburet--y ing-point, by` means of which air is drawn into contact with the carbureting fluid.

My objects are to economize the carbureting iiuid, to maintain its quality and standard,

to insure its substantially-equable tempera'i 4ture at all seasons, to prevent chilling` and thus to avoid the `use of heat in carbureting, to insure safety in the use of highly-inflamT` mable fluids, to make evaporation complete general to improve carburetingprocesses as heretofore carried on;

,i ployed forcarrying out myprocess; but I prethe operatonfmy process to be perfectly" fer touse the apparatus described in an application for Letters Patenterial No.` 736,609,

lfiled upon the same day asthe present case;-

I have illustrated inthe accompanying drawings enough of such an, apparatus to enable intelligible.

Figure l isa vertical sectionof the Whole apparat-us.

Different kindsof apparatus canbeem-j` i In carrying out my process I admit gasolene or other suitable iuid which` is lighter than water intoa tank contained Within another and larger tank which is illed With Water. The inner tank is accessible to the entrance of the Water whichfsurrounds it.` I

` prefer to let the inner tank fill withwater and then force gasolene in displacing the Water; but if the admission of Water is controllable the gasolene can be admitted to the inner tank in the first place andthen such tank opened to admit nvvat'er. The pressure of Water forces gasolene from the inner tank, `up Wardly to a point above the Water-level and so above a carbureter iloating upon the `Wa- 'which the 'carbureter floats. The means for producing this vacuum also formsI a' gasholder,v` into which the carbureted air flows from the carbureter and from which it can be drawn o `for lighting, heating, and other purposes.`

ably buried in the ground and is filled with lvvater. `Thesefeatures make adouble precaution forthefsafety of the "hydrocarbontank B, which is placedwithin tank A and rests upon its bottom, the tank B being first protected by the Water `in `which it isiimthe" ground. The supply `of gasolene or other `only indirectly derived `freni Athis tank, and

the main gasolene-supplyin a manner vvhich insures the absolute,safetyorf` the apparatus.

stance.`

carburetersjhave been employed before in terQj {Atthe point mentioneda small Iquan` `mersed and' also by theburial of tank Aninf hydrocarbon by which ain is carbureted is I prefer to use` gasolene "as the carbureting' agent, but do not limit myself to that subi i, `8o A representsthe main tank,Whichis preferthe `carbureter is Wholly disconnected from The Vcarbureter C iioats o n the surface of n thebody of water in tank A. Such oating IOO caseswhere the main tankwas lledwith the carburetingagent.` `Such a construction is 5 .end of said pipe 6.

direct supply for the carbureter. vessel kJ a pipe 6 leads downwardly into the highly dangerous, as it calls for the practical disclosure of a large body of explosive-fluid. I consider it a marked and special improvement to employ a body of water for sub-r merging the gasolene-tank and also for sup. porting the carbureter. The carbureter which I prefer to use consists of a disk having` a hollow rim 1, which forms an air-space and makes it buoyant. Secured to the disk onits lower side is a iiange 2, of helical shape,`which forms a continuous helical passage from the edge to the center. in position, the edge of this flange dips into the Water, so as to form a continuous watersealed passage of the shape described andy shown. The disk is provided with a central opening 3.

An inverted tank or bell F is supported from a suitable framing G by a rope or cable H, which extends to a windlass I, provided with an ordinary ratchet device for holding the bell in suspension. The bell is shown in elevated position in Fig. l, which is the operative position in which it acts as the gas holder. Beforecommencing to make gas the bell is lowered into the main tank. Communicating with the interior of the gasolenetank B is another open-ended pipe 7,.into which Water from the main body ilows and lls the tank B. Gasolene is forced from any external source of supply through a pipe 5',

which passes down inside the main tank a-nd has an upturned open end Within the inner tank B. This gasolene entering under prese sure displaces the water in tank B, which is forced back into the main body of water" above the water-level equal to about one-4 `third of the depth ofgwater.

Pipe 5 coinmunicates through a branch 4,provided With a cock a', With the elevated measuring vessel J preferably of glass, above the Waterlevel andk carbureter. Thisv vessel holds a regulated quantity in proportion to the size of the plant, and this isolated quantity is the From the main tank and' up through the body of water to the'central opening '3 of the carbureter, which is larger than the upturned open Pipe 6 hasA a cock a2, which is closed while cock a is open. When the desired quantity of oil is in the vessel J, cock a' is closed and cock a2 opened. The

gasolene will now feed by gravity through resting in a thin body or stratum upon the water and leaving a clear passage above it.,

When the carburetenisy .made air-tight.

vforms a vacuum above the water-level and above the water-level.`

Thel absolute safety with which the supply, storage, and subsequent feeding of the inflammable material have been conducted and the isolation of the small quantity used in the carbureter will have been apparent to the reader. I now have a thin body of carbureting iiuid resting on a bodyof water and forming the base of a continuous air-passage. I supply air and at the same time form a gasholder by raising the inverted tank or bell which has been dipping in the water and is The act of raising the bell carbureter, and the air tofill this vacuum is compelled to pass through the carbureter before entering the gas-holder. f l

E is an air-pipe passing air-tight into the bell and having an exterior air-valve e. Its lower end passes air-tight into'the carbureter and enters a larger stationary tube e in the main tank, whose upturned end leavesa space for the escape of air into the air-passageof the carbureter. The tube e is of course necessary in order to permit air to be 'discharged at any'lheight of the bell and at any point The pipe E and airvalve move with the bell. from tube e enters the airpassage and is drawn through its whole length in contact with the body of gasolene. The air-pipe connects with this passage at its extreme outer end, and hence the air follows the helical Winding of the passage kuntil at the central opening 3, and thoroughly carbureted it rises into the gas-holder. I consider the helical form of the air-passage of great advantage as compared to one of square or other angular shape, as insuring a more rapid and easy passage of the air, there being no corners to produce obstructions.

The gas-outlet pipe O is an open-ended pipe extending from the gas-holder through the carbureter down into the main tankand then upwardly, as shown, whence it leads to the lighting system. A This arrangement of the outlet gas-pipe prevents anyinterference with the movable bell orgas-holder.

The placing of the oil-tank-i1nder water vof gasolene required to make a givenquantity of gas can be isolated from the main body. The gasolene is always confined in tanks or pipes and never handled in the open, so that it is safe to operate the machine at night with a light. The amount supplied to the carbureter can alsobe perfectly regulated, so that there is no danger of waste by evaporation or spilling. v

The air escaping IOO IIO

'I 15 and at the bottom of the main tank insures The isolation of a small and perfectly-regulated quantity of gasolene is a marked im- 4 provement as distinguished from processes involving evaporation and carbureting from the main body of oil. In. the latter case the standard of the gasolene is reduced by evaporation. Further, in evaporation from a large body of 'liquid it soon becomes chilled, making subsequent evaporation imperfect. By my process perfect gas is made without using heat. The gasolene being in such a thin stratum in the carbureter, the chilling effect is not noticeable on account of the short time required to charge the plant. As only the required amount of gasolene is run into the carbureter each time and just before the air is admitted, there is no trouble from local evaporation, which would produce a waste of oil, excessive richness of gas, and smoky lights. Furthermore, the gas being made by producing a vacuum, and the capacity of the bell which produces it being known, the exact quantity oi' air in cubic feet to be admitted can be determined relatively to the amount of oil admitted to the measuring-can insuring complete evaporation and a standard gas, and the quantity of gasolene remaining in the storage-tank B is always definitely known.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a process for making gas, the method of supplying oil to a carbureter iioating upon a body of water, which consists in forcing oil into a tank immersed in said body of water, cutting o the oil-supply, displacing oil from said tank and raising it above the water-level by admitting water to said tank, and then feeding said oil by gravity to said carbureter.

2. The process of making gas, which consists in supplying oil of specific gravity inferior to water to a tank immersed in water, causing the pressure of such water to displace and elevate oil from such tank to a height above the water-level, then feeding such oil by gravity to a carbureter at the water-level, producing a vacuum above the water-level and thereby drawing air into said carbureter and over the body of oil contained therein.

3. The process of making gas, which consists in forcing oil of specific gravity inferior to Water into a tank immersed iu a body of water and accessible thereto, cutting o the oil-supply, so as to permit the back pressure of water into said tank to displace and elevate oil therefrom to a height above the water-level, then feeding such oil by .gravity to a carbureter at the water-level, producing a vacuum above the water-level, and thereby drawing air into said carbureter and over the body of oil contained therein.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my sig# nature, in presence of two witnesses, this 13th day of October, 1899.

. JOSEPH E. SHEARER.-

Witnesses:

G. H. PORTER, A. J. MCLENAN. 

